Check out the strange and wonderful clip put together by Jack Dixon and Millie Harvey for THE LOOK Presents Priceless range.
We’re particularly delighted because the soundtrack is by THE LOOK favourites The Dirty Three: Jim White, Mick Turner and Warren Ellis. Can’t get enough of Wazzer.
Here he is during a performance in which one critic detected Ellis dancing “like a tramp trying to stamp out a fire”; the best gig THE LOOK witnessed this year, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds at St Luke’s Church:
//THE LOOK and Nick Cave touch hands at 5.00//
A few Priceless A/W 08 items are left; Antony Price is currently beavering away putting the finishing touches to S/S 09’s colourful capsule collection.
For many individuals in the worlds of fashion, music and film, Christmas spirits will have been dampened by news of the death last week of James Lebon at the age of just 49.
//The original International Stussy Tribe; James Lebon centre//
THE LOOK didn’t know Lebon at all well, though a handful of encounters left the impression of a hugely affable and multi-talented person, one who occupies an important place in propelling streetwear from the concern of a couple of hundred music-mad youths in London, New York, Los Angeles and Tokyo a quarter of a century ago into the central place it occupies in today’s global pop culture.
It was Lebon who brought back crucial news of the emerging New York rap scene which in turn sparked the establishment of the UK’s first and most significant hip-hop club, the Language Lab in the early 80s.
//James Lebon and friend, Cannes 1988. Pic: Ellen von Unwerth//
Cutting a swathe through London’s demi-monde with his photographer brother Mark, James Lebon was in his time a leading hairdresser (with his Cuts salon in west London), an accomplished promo and commercials director, a model and member of Ray Petri’s influential Buffalo collective, and also a recording artist.
//Montage of Lebon’s commercials work//
Lebon often worked in conjunction with his compadre, streetwear guru Michael Kopelman.
Interviewed at the Gimme 5 offices for THE LOOK, the friends chortled at the memory of paying repeated visits to Harlem to pick up a white leather tracksuit Lebon had ordered at Dapper Dan’s, the crucible of 80s urban fashion on 125th Street.On each occasion, they would make the trek uptown only to find that the article of clothing had been sold, because a procession of customers had seen the suit on display and persuaded the owner to sell it to them.
Kopelman and Lebon were among the first to pick up on the magical graphics being produced by surfer Shawn Stussy out of his Laguna Canyon studio in southern California in the mid-80s, and were part of the original International Stussy Tribe, as the image posted above and given to THE LOOK by Kopelman testifies.
//Fascinated by Lisa B. Directed by James Lebon//
Read about Lebon’s crucial role in communicating awareness of such labels as Stussy, BAPE, Neighborhood and Goodenough in a recent interview here.
A Facebook group, The Don And Not Forgotten, features many touching photographs and reminiscences of this charming man. You may join it here.
The Flamin’ Groovies are among the most under-appreciated groups in rock&roll history, in terms of both their magnificent music and double-sharp style.
//Slow Death: Let It Rock drape and studded leather 1972//
THE LOOK witnessed the San Franciscans supported by The Ramones at the legendary (and sweltering) Roundhouse gig on The Fourth Of July 1976, apparently in the company of the punk-rock cognoscenti. The only encounter which sticks in the memory is a bout of speed-fuelled aggression from an out-of-control Shane MacGowan.
//Teenage Head: Scooped neck tees and tight pants//
But The Roundhouse show was not to herald the much-deserved commercial breakthrough; as their manager at the time, the late lamented Greg Shaw, told me years later for In Their Own Write, the oncoming punk storm overshadowed the headline act that night.
“When people saw The Ramones, lightbulbs went off, kind of like: ‘Aaah, this is how you do it’,” said Greg. “Everyone respected the Groovies, but we were obviously out of place there.”
Which is a great shame, because the Groovies were armed with fantastic tunes, attitude to spare, and, as worn by Cyril Jordan that night, this amazing velvet jacket.
Cyril had it made the previous year by tailors Foster & Tara, who usually serviced Granny Takes A Trip, though the King’s Road store was at that time in disarray following the departures of Gene Krell and Marty Breslau.
//Back: Martin Cook, Tara Browne, Gary White. Front: David Vaughn, Dudley Edwards, Douglas Binder//
Foster & Tara was operated by the father-and-son team of Pops and Cliff Foster, and had been set up with Guinness heir Tara Browne, whose tragic death at the age of 21 in a car accident on December 18 1966 inspired The Beatles’ A Day In The Life.
//Tara Browne + Paul McCartney//
There is a completely wild conspiracy website claiming that Paul McCartney actually died in the crash; the current ex-Beatle and former husband of Heather Mills, is, apparently, none other than Tara Browne!
The Beatles’ connection to Cyril’s jacket is more verifiable. “I’d seen a photo of Ringo wearing one of the coats in purple or burgundy in an issue of Beatles Monthly,” says Cyril, who these days pours his musical energies into his band Magic Christian.
//David Wright (far left) in his F&T jacket 1976//
“I took the magazine photo to Foster & Tara and Pops told me he still had fabric which Paul McCartney had brought back from Paris years earlier for clothes for all The Beatles. There were rolls of water silk, sharkskin and velvet in various colours. We got such a kick having jackets made from the same material and designs.”
The coats weren’t cheap, coming in at £600 apiece. “The day we picked up ours, these guys from Showaddywaddy came in to fetch their drapes,” recalls Cyril, who points out that the back and front cover photos of the Shake Some Action sleeve were taken across the street from Foster & Tara.
//Roll Over Beethoven on French TV//
The band members wore their red coats on stage for years, all around the world. Now Cyril is clearing space in his archive and is willing to sell his, an extremely rare piece and one imbued with pure rock & roll provenance.
Interested parties should direct inquiries inquiries via: thelook@rockpopfashion.com and we will pass them on.
During the 70s there was a stylistic inland invasion in the US; just as Carnaby Street gave rise to a wave of Dandyism among American individuals during the 60s, so eccentric little boutiques in England such as Granny Takes A Trip sparked a trend for wild clothing outlets across the States in the succeeding decade.
//Explosion and Lacy Lady, North Tonawanda NY 1971//
Investigated in Chapter 12 of THE LOOK, I’m developing this phenomenon as the subject of a new book, so imagine my delight when contact came out of the clear blue sky last week from Terry Slobodzian, who’s a fan of this blog.
“I was in the boutique business 1969-74,” he explained, “and was in London in 70….Granny’s…Let It Rock…Biba…the Hard Rock…etc…thought you might enjoy some photos of originals I still have.”
//Terry Slobdzian inside Explosion, 1970//
Terry sent images of the most sought-after clothes of that or any other era. Turns out Terry, a top-notch 55-year-old who still wears his Granny’s panel suit with pride, was the brains behind clothing emporia Explosion and Lacy Lady, both situated in the the early to mid-70s in North Tonawanda (between Buffalo and Niagara Falls, NY).
Inspired by the British Invasion and having spent time with New York’s Now Theatre repertory company, Terry opened the flamboyant Explosion in autumn 1969 in the city’s downtown area.
//Terry with girlfriend Geri and mother Olga outside the first Explosion, 1969//
“I found a store, about 800sq ft and $175 a month. We painted the trim and metal-embossed ceiling purple and the walls a lighter shade. I bought sample squares of multi-coloured shag and glued them to the floor and we painted one wall with an outline map of the USA with silhouettes of rock stars, kinda like Mt. Rushmore!”
Explosion carried denim, including M. Hoffman & Co’s Landlubber jeans, which apparently sold like wildfire.
“They were made really well: a hip-hugger with a horizontal slit pocket and a slim fitted thigh with small bell bottom,” recalls Terry.
//Explosion interior, 1973//
The store also stocked tops, mainly crew-neck and button-up, in solid and two-tone colours. “Kids could come in and purchase a pair of jeans and a top for $15 bucks,” he points out.
“There were no stores like mine in the downtown area, and Buffalo had only one or two. I also made leather belts to order. You could pick a dye colour, design and buckle, and pick it up the next day.”
In January 1970, Terry and his girlfriend Geri made it across to London. Their first stop-off was Granny Takes A Trip at 488 King’s Road, by this time run by Marty Breslau and Gene Krell with Freddy Hornik.
“What a trip it was,” says Terry.“Every piece fit like a glove right off the rack. The craftmanship and choice of fabric was amazing.” //Granny Takes A Trip velvet panelled suit// Among the items Terry bought and still cherishes is a navy blue velvet suit with a three-quarter length jacket and a brown velvet jacket with white piping, as well as pants with a yoke in a lighter tone of brown.
//Granny’s brown velvet jacket and yoked pants//
Hornik confirmed to THE LOOK only last week that these suits were available to customers with matching yokes on the jackets if so required. Terry also acquired a white linen suit with appliqué-d roses (“the cut on this is killer”), as well as a shirts in pink and silver lurex and black and purple stripes and two pairs of shoes, one with a short stacked leather heel in orange canvas with tiny hippos in yellow and blue. The other pair were multi-coloured snakeskin patchwork platforms.
//Granny Takes A Trip white linen suit//
On his return to North Tonawanda, a larger retail site became available at 77 Webster. Here he re-established Explosion with Art Deco flourishes, and set off to acquire fresh inventory at the National Boutique Show in New York.
//Alkasura: Yellow/blue velvet jacket with matching pants and striped jacket//
“With exhibitors covering eight to 10 floors and displaying fashions in every room including the mezzanine maze, I was fucking blown away,” he confesses. “My only disappointment was the lack of any British companies or design houses, but that came the following year with the glorious arrival of Alkasura. I believe my order was one of the largest from the US.”
//Deco window display with Alkasura suits, 1973//
During the show, Terry visited the Granny’s outlet in New York operated by John LiDonni and Richie Onigbene. Here he purchased a burgundy and purple velvet suit which had been supplied out of England by Granny’s tailors Foster & Tara.
Another regular Granny’s customer was Tommy Hilfiger, then running The People’s Place boutique in his birthplace, Elmira NY.
//Terry in Granny’s suit, 2008//
The velvet panelled suit was a Granny’s staple. Rod Stewart wears a red and black version during his famous performance of Maggie May on British weekly chart show Top Of The Pops (featuring the sadly departed DJ John Peel miming on the mandolin).
//Rod The Mod in Granny’s panel suit//
“I wore the hell out of mine and it’s still like new,” says Terry. “Never have I felt or seen anything close to the quality of these fabrics – and I can still get into a couple of them!”
As a result of his trip to the show, Explosion expanded into lines from the likes of East West Musical Instrument Co.“I remember my best friend wearing a solid silver leather jacket from East West to a Lou Reed concert, a very cool piece,” says Terry.
//Store assistants John and Vickie outside Explosion, 1972//
“Those retailed for $300-$400 but were worth every penny. I wish I had one to show you. East West also made probably the best denim jeans at $35, which was also a little high for the time, yet once purchased, people loved ‘em. And, even if some couldn’t afford to buy an expensive piece, they still wanted to see some real high-end rock & roll fashion.”
//Shirts by John Wesley Harding//
Explosion also stocked shirts by John Wesley Harding, Scrooge, Bouncing Bertha’s Banana Blanket and Jizz Inc ( “the most beautiful satin embroidered western style shirts with contrast color piping and pearl snap buttons”), as well as shoes by Verde and Tannino Crisci.
In the spring of 1970, the store next door became vacant and Terry opened Lacy Lady, which, like Explosion, was to trade until 1974.
//Lacy Lady 1972//
These days Terry is penthouse butler at Seneca Niagara Casino & Hotel in Niagara Falls, where he caters for VIP guests in pretty much the same manner as he handled the clientele of his boutiques; with great care and sensitivity.
And, of course, his eye for style is unstinting. “We have some great Art Deco architecture in the area,”says Terry, who can be contacted here.
“I prepare fine meals and classic pastry in my spare time and am addicted to film.
“I always wanted to direct. Maybe next time around. You know, you never lose that artistic ability whatever you do in life. And I am fortunate to still have the juice running through me.”
At last - a music-associated apparel range which is right up THE LOOK’s strasse: artist’s overalls from “Wild” Billy Childish .
//Hat and boots not included//
The limited edition release of 20 sets of overalls - in khaki cotton drill to a Royal Flying Corps pattern from 1912 inscribed with Childish’s trademark Hangman logo - underlines what should by now be a universally acknowledged truth: Billy Childish is a style leader of some import.
//The Tube 1984: Thee Milkshakes with Tracey Emin among audience members//
Yet the dunderhead worlds of art, music and poetry have taken decades to catch up with his punk prolificism, so what chance does poor old fashion have?
//Emin & Childish 1984//
From the days of Pop Rivits and Thee Milkshakes, Childish has carved his own furrow regardless of passing trends and fads. As he told me for in a 1995 interview: “I’m operating without permission.”
//Thee Headcoatees + Thee Headcoats with Thee Downliners Sect//
It was Childish who proselytised for many years on behalf of the deerstalker as prime mover in Thee Headcoats and “sister” band Thee Headcoatees.
//Troubled Mind by The Buff Medways//
Up there among the unforgettable rock & roll spectacles witnessed by THE LOOK is the sight of Billy and Thee Mighty Ceasars in purple togas and sandals being dragged in a chariot across the dancefloor of the Gold Coast hotel in Vegas by The Devil-Ettes at Las Vegas Grind 1999.
Quietly over the last three decades Childish’s style has embraced functional and traditional elements, from trilbies, neckerchiefs, matelot shirts, berets, braces and boots to ruffle-fronted shirts, wife-beater vests, stovepipe trousers, guardsman’s breeches, helmets and caps.
//The Musicians Of The British Empire//
These and his fine tonsorial and facial hair arrangements are cited as a major inspiration on Steampunk, and that’s fine: every couple of years his name is incanted as influential, from Kurt Cobain, Beck and Graham Coxon to White Stripes and Kylie Minogue (the original name for her 1997 album was The Impossible Princess, from a collection of his poems given her by Nick Cave).
//Musicians Of the British Empire at The Dirty Water Club//
Sadly the arrival of the overalls in the marketplace coincides with the closure of the gallery which has provided a haven for Childish over a number of years, Bloomsbury’s Aquarium L-13.
This shuts up shop on Tuesday so get your headcoats on and your overalls orders in (for the knockdown price of £125 including neckerchief and wife-beater) here.
Go here for a full discography of Childish-related musical output.
Like THE LOOK, my new book Reasons To Be Cheerful explores a visual aspect of post-war pop culture; rather than fashion, design is scrutinised this time via the life and work of the visionary Barney Bubbles.
Bubbles was as responsible for communicating the look of popular music as any number of fashionistas, and is identified in the book by Peter Saville as ” the missing link between pop and culture”.
//Barney Bubbles painting a portrait of Richard Butler of The Psychedelic Furs 1982//
Although he opted for anonymity for much of his working life, accessibility was all to the man born Colin Fulcher; after all, he was a product of the great art-school beat boom and cut his teeth working for Sir Terence Conran, the person who spurred on the democratisation of design in Britain in the latter half of the 20th century.
//Hawklords booklet 1978 + The Image poster 1966//
Bubbles art-directed for a staggering array of musicians and performers, from raga rock hippies Quintessence, street-level space-rockers Hawkwind and spin-off apocalyptic outfit Hawklords to Two-Tone pioneers The Specials and electro-popsters Depeche Mode.
//Ghost Town by The Specials 1981//
He also honed the visual appeal of three singular artists who broke through in the late 70s: Elvis Costello, Ian Dury and Nick Lowe.
//Your Generation by Generation X 1977 + I Love The Sound Of Breaking Glass 1978//
Working with razor-sharp rock and roll manager and Stiff/Radar/F-Beat operator Jake Riviera, Bubbles’ integrated approach included not only designing the sleeve but also directing the shoot for Costello’s landmark debut My Aim Is True, which transformed the former country-rocker into “Buddy Holly on acid” with a visual match for the persona which inhabited the album’s bitter and twisted tracks.
//Contact sheet section for My Aim Is True cover 1977 (c) Keith Morris Estate//
//Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll1977 + Watching The Detectives 1977//
Ian Dury’s polio-stricken frame and jumble sale chic had underscored his presence in pub-rock outfit Kilburn & The High Roads, but it was Bubbles’ application of the day-glo aesthetic to the sleeve of the extraordinary New Boots & Panties!! and his considered photographic cropping, illustrative strengths and typographic arrangements which elevated Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick, the Blockhead logo and the Ian Dury Songbook.
//Advert for La Dusseldorf 1978 + The Ian Dury Songbook 1979//
For Lowe, Bubbles realised a series of striking images, not least the van Doesburg-quoting cover of I Love The Sound Of Breaking Glass and the sleeve of Jesus Of Cool. On the back of the American edition (renamed Pure Pop For Now People) Lowe is cast as a warped all-round entertainer in a green sharkskin “Riddler” suit.
//Back covers: New Boots & Panties!! 1977 + Pure Pop For Now People 1978//
This was made by Riviera’s first wife Antoinette Sales, a fashion illustrator and stage-wear designer who also collaborated with Lowe’s wife Carlene Carter and has more recently worked with Boudoir Queen’s Dawn Denton and is soon to team up with South Paradiso’s Romulus Von Stezelberger.
//Forever Now by The Psychedelic Furs 1982 + Unavailable by Clover 1977//
Bubbles was to continue supplying stunning visuals for all three artists - and many more besides - until his death in 1983.Peter Saville - who was at the London launch of the book last week along with the likes of Lowe, Riviera and Dury’s son Baxter - believes that exposure to Bubbles’ ouevre will spark a new direction in graphics among contemporary fashion designers over the coming months.
Read all about the lasting influence of Barney Bubbles in Reasons To Be Cheerful, available now from amazon and in all good book stores.
If you’re in town this evening come on down to Topman’s store at Oxford Circus for an opportunity to view and even get your mitts on our exclusive new Priceless collection which has just arrived in-store and online.
The result of a collaboration between our label The Look Presents and rock royalty couturier Antony Price, these glam rags are just made for alleviating the gloom, with ranges of cool jackets, neat shirts, skinny trousers and even some ties and bow-ties.
Read all about Antony’s adventures in rock and pop fashion in Chapter 17 of THE LOOK.
Yesterday THE LOOK took a trip, from the free-form madness of Acid House in the 80s to the blunt end of 21st century corporate branding as part of a symposium linked to the V&A’s current Fashion Vs Sport exhibition.
//Double Trouble & Rebel MCs - Street Tuff//
Music is the vital element in the mix, the enabler and communicator, as explained in Chapter 30 of THE LOOK, which details how 1988 marked the entry of sportswear into the mass fashion market as everything loosened up.
The decades since have witnessed all manner of fashion/sports crossovers: surf style pioneered by Shawn Stussy, sneaker culture, the rise of Britpop as football became the new rock & roll, skintight clubbing gear and urban clothing empires such as Jay Z’s Rocawear and Pharrell’s Ice Cream/Billionaire Boys Club.
//New Order/England FC - World In Motion//
With contributions from such leading players as Visvim creative director Hiroki Nakamura, the supremacy of fashion in sportswear was driven home by such examples as Yamamoto’s Y3 range and Stella McCartney’s hook-up with Adidas.
The fervent talk of technological innovation, integrity, masculine affirmation and tier-one branding confirmed a significant issue: sportswear has basically done for menswear over the last 20 years. These days the forum for design development, discussion, interplay and consumption of style among young males is the sports good store.
//Warren G & Nate Dogg - Regulate//
Up against some pretty hard sell from the caring, sharing likes of Nike and Adidas, Microzine’s savvy Chris Lee provided a number of insights, while THE LOOK plumped to present half-a-dozen great pop moments with a sportswear tip.
The latter two make for interesting bookends. That Girl is a prime example of hard-edged global multi-marketing delivered by a top tune. Checking for his label Ice Cream, Pharrell also manages to drop in props for a multinational (Nokia) and - in relative terms - a cutting edge artist (Shepherd Fairey), while the importance for such millionaires to be seen to connect to the street is underlined by skater sequences.
//Aerosmith & Run DMC - Walk This Way//
From an entirely different age, Walk This Way is a defining clip in the growth of sportswear into fashion. Just watch the way Run DMC step out in their boxfresh Adidas. Exhibition curator Ligaya Salazar pointed out that it was this surreptitious appearance, not the clip for the more direct My Adidas, which prompted a boom in sales for the brand.
Fashion Vs Sport is on until January 4. Ligaya Salazar has also edited a companion book with contributions from Christopher Breward, Kim Jones, Sophie Woodward, Mark Simpson, Takeharu Sato and Mihara Yashiro.
Christie’s much ballyhoo-ed sale of “the finest collection of 20th Century fashion in private hands” last week achieved a respectable total of £270,000, with sales secured for 165 of the 225 items.
//Paco Rabanne dress: £15,000/YSL suit: £10,000//
Highlights for vendors Mark Haddawy and Katy Rodriguez, co-owners of US retailer Resurrection, included Paco Rabanne’s aluminium panelled dress fetching three times the estimate at £15,000 and a YSL safari suit achieving nearly 10 times the predicted price at £10,000.
//Pierre Cardin cape: £5,000//
With such one-offs as the red vinyl Cardin bubble cape attracting £5,000, the vintage business is using the sale to steady the buffs during this stormy economic period. Hence this week’s claim by Cameron Silver of LA retailer Decades that “many people are turning to vintage as a guilt-free way to shop.”
//Nostalgia Of Mud and Witches dresses: £1,000 each//
Although many World’s End items attracted buyers, the Christie’s website does not record sales for more than a third of the 47 items from 430 King’s Road.
This, combined with the withdrawal of four before the sale began, underscores the increasing nervousness over authenticity of pieces purported to emanate from the shop between 1974 and 1980 in its guises as Sex and Seditionaries.
//Unsold: Estimate £2,000-£4,000//
Among the 18 not present in Christie’s sale results are a number previously flagged as fake by Malcolm McLaren (whose name is omitted from the design partnership he conducted with Vivienne Westwood in the online auction results).
//Unsold: Estimate £1,500-£2,500//
These include a “Destroy waistcoat” and “No Future jacket” as well as three muslin tops, a “No Future jumper” and pairs of red corduroy, serge/satin and fringed bondage trousers.
//Unsold: Estimate £2,000-£4,000//
Two challenged by McLaren were authenticated by New York Dolls guitarist Sylvain Sylvain and sold: a gilt leather hood went for £1,250 and a pink sleeveless Peter Pan shirt made £1,125.
//Sylvain’s hood: Sold for £1,250//
McLaren remains sceptical, describing Sylvain’s assertion that he supplied the guitarist with the hood as stage gear as “outrageous”.
Withdrawn items from the catalogue included a Chaos armband with an estimate of £100-£150 and muslin shirts which went on display in New York but did not make the journey across the Atlantic.
These were also rejected as fake by McLaren when he viewed them at the company’s starry presale which was one of the events kicking off New York Fashion Week and was attended by Agyness Dean, Chloe Sevigny and Henry Holland.
//Christie’s NY: Muslins withdrawn from the Avant Garde sale//
“We thought there were simply too many muslins for the balance of the sale and for the current market,” says Christie’s textiles specialist Pat Frost, who was quoted in the Financial Times 10 days ago claiming McLaren hadn’t “handled the pieces”.
//Malcolm McLaren at Christie’s presale show NY September 2008//
The next stop is Christie’s Punk/Rock sale in NYC on November 24.
Centred on artefacts from the New York, SF and English punk scenes, the heading is something of a misnomer since the sale also features a catch-all from a 60s poster for Barbra Streisand to Frank Kozik skateboards and Kidrobot vinyl toys.
Punk/Rock has nine lots claimed to be designs from 430 King’s Road, including a number of ties ($2,000-$3,000), two Cowboys t-shirts ($1,000 - $1,500 each) and a pair of Seditionaries bondage trousers ($300-$400).
/>//Seditionaries bondage trousers?//
Since the latter appear to THE LOOK to be dubious, there is little doubt that the punk-rock fakes furore ain’t going away any time soon.
Visit here for the auction results from the Avant Garde Fashion sale.
This Youtube clip for Kevin Rowland’s version of Concrete & Clay provides a pointer to where the style leader was taking his investigations into feminine attire before the plug was unceremoniously pulled by the collapse of Creation Records back in 1999.
//Concrete & Clay by Kevin Rowland//
Playing with the key dualities - black and white, purity and evil, heaven and hell - the promo (directed by Andreas Tibblin) also contains allusions to Rowland’s recovery from cocaine addiction, not least when the singer is submerged by a mound of white feathers. The transgressive air is communicated not by the fact that he is wearing a slip and panties, but more that the garb is pure white, with flesh sensuously hinted at and fleetingly revealed.
//Live at the Reading Festival 1999//
But such considerations were swept aside by knee-jerk commentary on the clothes, which Rowland had been developing into an entire collection. THE LOOK recalls encountering the singer at a film screening around this time. In an A-line apron-style skirt with zippered front and red polo-neck, he was deep in conversation with John Galliano, himself dressed in a sarong.
The reaction to the cover of Rowland’s underrated interpretative album My Beauty
revealed the inherent conservatism in indie rock circles, as preconceptions among those who held him in laddish high-regard were overturned.
//Sleeve of Concrete & Clay//
In a letter to Creation Records boss Alan McGee prior to the album release, Rowland stressed that he was “not wearing women’s clothes or trying to be a woman. I am wearing dresses because I choose to (who’s to say I can’t?)”.
//Braveheart: Men In Skirts by Andrew Bolton//
As recorded in chapter 26 of THE LOOK, Creation’s Ed Ball was pretty much alone in recognising Rowland’s stylistic statement as part of a lineage stretching back through pop fashion.
“Thirty-odd years ago David Bowie wore a dress, and look at what people like John Stephen were doing in the 60s,” said Ball. “It’s inevitable that dresses on men are cutting edge.”
However, McGee noted in Dave Cavanagh’s history of the label: “Two-thirds of Creation are disgusted with the project.”
//From S/S 09 shows by Galliano, Commes des Garcons and Etro. Pic: Imaxtree//
This uptight attitude appears thoroughly outmoded now. Reappraisal came swiftly: in 2003 Rowland appeared in Andrew Bolton’s V&A celebration Braveheart: Men In Skirts, and the cover, from Jean Paul Gaultier A/W 2001, bore a striking resemblance to one of the silhouettes the Dexy’s frontman had been promulgating.
//From The Sartorialist July 08//
With male cosmetics and transgender dress these days more widely accepted in the wake of adoption from the sublime (Antony Hegarty) to the ridiculous (Russell Brand), this summer has seen Gaultier join other designers in reviving male skirts for men on the catwalk.
//MGMT’s VanWynGarden models skirt options//
Meanwhile musicians such as Andrew VanWynGarden of MGMT revel in wearing pleated skirts, surf-minis and Kurt Cobain-style flower-print dresses.
The My Beauty affair is ancient history to Rowland, who subsequently reformed Dexy’s for an acclaimed tour in 2003 and has more recently achieved success as a DJ and compiler of the Made To Measure Motown set. Nowadays his look channels 30s, 40s and 50s vintage shapes and cross-fertilises them with 21st Century dandy flourishes.
In the aftermath of My Beauty, Rowland commented: “My therapist said, ‘What you’ve done is tapped into something that’s very threatening - to not be a man dressing up as woman, but wearing a dress because you want to, without trying to be feminine’.
“I think it was beautiful, in a way. The reaction to that dress was almost the same as for the Ivy League clothes on Don’t Stand Me Down, which was just as vitriolic, for wearing suits. It’s very hard for me to understand that kind of reaction. But that’s show business.”
Prepare for fireworks ahead of Guy Fawkes Night when Christie’s holds it’s sale of extraordinary items from US vintage house Resurrection in London on October 30.
//Stephen Sprouse: Culotte dress (£500-£1,000); day dress (£400-£600); jacket(£500-£800)//
Grouped under the heading Avant-Garde Fashion, this is billed as “the finest collection of 20th Century fashion in private hands” and has been amassed by US vintage specialists Mark Haddawy and Katy Rodriguez, co-owners of the Resurrection stores in NYC and LA.
//World’s End: Bra top (£200-£400), shoes (£300-£400), Mini-Crini (£400-£600)//
The sale is noteworthy on some other counts. First Malcolm McLaren - one of the designers whose work is heavily represented - claims that the list contains counterfeit lots which must be withdrawn. This request, and his urging for the Metropolitan Police to be called in, has been rejected by Christie’s.
//BOY inspector jacket and bondage trousers (£500-£700)+ in original ad £23 and £17.50//
Meanwhile, amid the global financial meltdown and the subsequent belt-tightening among collectors, is this the last hoorah of the vintage boom which companies such as Resurrection have transformed from thrift-store chic into an area of serious investment?
Christie’s textiles director Pat Frost believes not. “The market is definitely evolving from buying vintage to wear to buying vintage fashion as ‘art’, bringing design, architecture and music into relationship with fashion,” she says.”This sale is a step beyond ‘vintage’ towards a more serious assessment of fashion as part of our common contemporary design history.”
//Mr Freedom baseball suit and tees (£800-£1,200) + Olivia Newtown John with Cliff Richard 1971//
Market mainstays are present and correct, with the high reserves tipped towards Cardin, Rabanne and Courrèges and pieces by Zandra Rhodes, Steven Burrows, Ossie Clark, Rudi Gernreich, Westwood & McLaren, Norma Kamali, Azzedine Alaia, Gianni Versace and Issey Miyake.
The list confirms not only the rise in collecting circles over recent years of such labels as Stephen Sprouse and East West Musical Instruments Co but also the growing interest in the output of such quirky outlets as Alkasura, Mr Freedom and BOY, all of which were covered for the first time in-depth anywhere in THE LOOK.
//Alkasura jackets (£500-£600)//
//Todd Rundgren in his Alkasura cherry jacket 1974//
“Katy and Mark have been putting aside pieces which were different in spirit from the kind they would usually sell in the Resurrection stores,” says Pat Frost. “As vintage store owners they were offered and also able to track down a significant body of avant garde fashion. The quality and number of Paco Rabanne dresses is a good example of their putting together a significant group from the work of a relatively scarce designer that would be the envy of major museums.”
//East West parrot jacket (£600-£800) + Sly Stone stagewear (£1,500-£2,500)//
With 250 pieces in the sale and reserves from £300 to £10,000, around a fifth of the lots are clothing produced at 430 King’s Road by Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood between 1972 and 1983. Having viewed items when the sale went on show in New York last month, McLaren’s demand for withdrawal is part of his campaign against counterfeit Sex and Seditionaries goods fetching high prices from private collectors, auction houses and museums (sparked by the dispute over the provenance of £85,000-worth of goods supplied to artist Damien Hirst by dealer Simon Easton).
//No Future jacket (£2,000-£4,000)//
The Sex and Seditionaries lots include muslin tops (at £1,000-£1,500), a pair of fringed bondage trousers (£800-£1,200), women’s shoes (£300-£500) and long sleeved t-shirts (£800-£1,200).
//Destroy waistcoat £1,500-£2,500)//
Certainly a number of the pieces are highly unusual and not previously documented, including a pink sleeveless Peter Pan collar shirt, a pair of blue serge/black silk/satin trousers, a gold leather hood, a checkered waistcoat with the Destroy imagery on the back and a jacket adorned with zips and chains. All of these are akin to designs from the shop but with marked variations.
//Leather hood £1,000-£2,000)//
For example, the hood was commonly in black, waistcoats were in synthetic fabrics during the SEX era and did not contain adornment on the backs and there was a short run of Seditionaries’ “Railwayman’s jackets” in grey towelling which are similar in design to the zip/chain jacket.
“There are many items which are wrong,” says McLaren. “The muslins we saw in New York are big enough for giants, which is impossible. One size fits all was always mine and Vivienne’s policy. We, and everyone we admired, were skinny little runts, and few, if any, were made even in medium sizes. The tartan waistcoat and the other with long sleeves I just don’t understand and the gold hood is pure disco, not us at all. Where have these things come from? Not from our shop, I can tell you for sure.”
//SEX stilettos (£300-£500)//
Christie’s is standing it’s ground. “Christie’s are very much aware that there are problems with correctly attributing pieces from this era,” Frost told THE LOOK. “We’ve been rigorous in checking provenance and are convinced that the pieces offered are genuine.”
//SEX shoes (£300-£500)//
Over recent years an “abiding principle” for art fraud - in particular regarding work which is carried out with and by assistants - appears to have been established, as highlighted by Alan Yentob’s recent documentary Andy Warhol Denied.While controversy swirls around some of the decisions made by the Andy Warhol Art Authentication Board, a clear message on authenticity has been set out by specialist art lawyer Ronald Spencer.
//No Future jumper (£2,000-£4,000)//
He said: “If Andy Warhol conceives the idea, says to one of his assistants ‘Here’s how we should do it’, supervises that assistant’s execution, and then approves it, then that’s a Warhol.”
McLaren applies the same principle to dismiss the notion that the items he is disputing could have been made in his absence by Westwood or others working at the shop.
“If Vivienne and I together conceived the idea, supervised its execution and approved it between 1971 when Let It Rock opened and 1980 when Seditionaries closed, then that item is authentic,” he says. “As the person involved in ’supervising and executing’, these clothes never passed my hands. They never appeared in the shop for sale and, for that reason, I can only say they are fake.”
//Cire SEX t-shirts (£600-£800)//
McLaren asserts that even when he lived in Paris during this period, not one design was produced without his knowledge. “I was there merely a few months in 1979 and constantly returned to London to see Vivienne and discuss the shop,” he adds.
“We agreed it should be turned into a new store selling a completely new collection of clothes which had nothing to do with punk. Vivienne was studying a book of 18th century patterns by Nora Waugh and developing them into what would become, with my help, the Pirate collection.”
//Two Nostalgia Of Mud toga dresses and a Witches ensemble (all £800-£1,200)//
That “new store” was, of course, World’s End, where McLaren and Westwood collaborated on a series of groundbreaking clothing ranges, key pieces of which are present in the Resurrection sale.
McLaren has not, so far, disputed their authenticity.
//Granny Takes A Trip velvet panelled suit// Among the items Terry bought and still cherishes is a navy blue velvet suit with a three-quarter length jacket and a brown velvet jacket with white piping, as well as pants with a yoke in a lighter tone of brown.
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/>//Seditionaries bondage trousers?// 
//SEX stilettos (£300-£500)//
